Publication History

Published Online:

2010-10-05

Political science research has long established a list of factors associated with higher levels of political knowledge. Among these are: education, income, political attentiveness, voter participation, and age. This analysis, using questions from California Field Polls taken in 2005 and 2009, demonstrates that when it comes to comprehension of Californias Prop. 13, those who we would predict to be most politically aware are actually most likely to misunderstand the basics of the measure. Several possible explanations for this bizarre phenomenon are explored. This unique finding is especially interesting, since the misunderstanding persists 31 years after the passage of the still-prominent landmark tax measure.